Backstage Interviews at 'Dancing With the Stars': Week Two Elimination Nerves

He may have the best smile, but Mike Catherwood is also the least-known star on season 12 of 'Dancing With the Stars', and his combined score of 30 after two weeks of dancing is the lowest. Can the Los Angeles disc jockey and his partner Lacey Schwimmer evade tonight's elimination on 'DWTS'?

"I have the lowest fan base and lowest score," Catherwood told TV Squad on the post-show press line last night. "If anything keeps us on the show beyond this week we'll have to do things differently. It can't be just, 'Oh, I'll try harder.' We'll have to go back to the drawing board and break it down."

If Catherwood manages to avoid being sent home during tonight's elimination show he'll have Schwimmer to thank. She brings her own fan following, not just from 'DWTS,' but also from 'So You Think You Can Dance' on which she appeared from 2007–08.

Also, in last season's 'DWTS' she and partner Kyle Massey came in second, beating out the seemingly unstoppable Bristol Palin in the show's finale. "You collect fans and followers every day," Schwimmer says. "You can get followers that you didn't even know you had."

There have been "showmance" rumors surrounding the dancer and the D.J., and while Schwimmer politely said "no comment" regarding the buzz to reporters after the show, Catherwood took a more tongue-in-cheek approach.

"Lacey and I have tremendous chemistry," he said. "It's unfortunate that people want to try to dampen the powerful sexual appeal that Lacey and I emit when we dance. That's their right, but I don't feel that it's natural."

"I thought I was dreaming," Romeo said after learning he'd received critical acclaim and a high score from judge Len Goodman, known for his cantankerous remarks and low scores. "I was like, 'Chelsie [Hightower], pinch me!' It shows hard work pays off."

"Len's the harshest critic," said Hightower. "To get an eight from him made me happy. Our goal was to get three sevens. but this exceeded our goal."

Ralph Macchio hung onto the lead he established last week after scoring 21 points for his jive with partner Karina Smirnoff. "We take it all back to the studio with us," Smirnoff said of the judges' comments.

Some couples either dropped in their scores or maintained like Petra Nemcova and her pro partner Dmitry Chaplin. "There was one little mistake but Petra carried on," Chaplin said. "We had a great time, good energy."

Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya also repeated their score of 17. Trebunskaya took on Goodman by saying he actually did want to criticize them after saying that he didn't want to. "Len always says he doesn't want to say bad things and then he does," Trebunskaya said. "He's a judge. It's his job. Of course he'll criticize."

Going first isn't always the best thing, Trebunskaya added. "You don't get a chance to warm up and the judges don't get a chance to warm up. Their comments were confusing. They love our entertainment factor, but 'we're still giving you a five'. If they love us, why are we getting that score?"

Mark Ballas took the biggest chance with his celebrity partner Chelsea Kane by bring almost a "freestyle" theme to their jive. The two-time 'DWTS' champion didn't think he'd taken too much of a risk until he saw the judges' faces after their performance.

"I thought, Here we go," Ballas sighed. "Get out the bulletproof vest." Surprisingly, the dancer said he may continue to act outside the box, despite the judges scolding him for doing so.

"I trust Mark," Kane said. "I've been of a fan of the show and of Mark's for years. I know he's not going to steer me wrong. I know he'll make the best decision for us as a couple based on what we're capable of doing. We have to hope that it works out more in our favor than not."

'Dancing With the Stars' airs Mondays at 8PM ET and Tuesdays at 9PM ET on ABC.

cannot fathom why the People at Dancing w the Stars would have Chris Brown on to entertain us? A Man that assaults a woman in full view of the world should quietly go away and nurse the demons out of himself, not carry on and cash in while doing so. Some things should be remembered and only forgiven after true redemption takes place. Shame on DWTS!